The Jammyland All Stars have found a new venue for their occasional jams with reggae veterans - Rockys bar in Williamsburg. A venue that, as I have remarked before, is not noted for formality. At a recent night Sammy Dread made a brief cameo and before he left, made a promise to return for a full session, of which this show was the fulfilment. Ira and the band had made sure to do their homework and fired off rhythm after rhythm of Sammy's classics. Sammy, majestic and immaculately natty, fielded everything they threw at him with panache, a smile on his face, and a Guinness in his hand. He effortlessly showed why his singing is ranked on a par with the greats of reggae. It is his lot to mostly work in the dancehall these days and he was obviously delighted to be back in a rub-a-dub environment. He often wheeled up the songs to says so, as you will see in the clips. We have the second go-round of 'Come Back Darling' the cuss-cuss showstopper from his 1982 Channel One album 'Roadblock'- which I have to mention Pitchfork staff included in their 2005 Worst Record Covers of All Time list - and then his original 1978 debut hit 'African Girl'.

Clicking on the images will take you to the clips on YouTube. The h.264's are iPod ready. There is a DVD (20,57:44).